berry fizz

1 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
1 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Strawberry-Infused Rosé Vermouth (Housemade)
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 Egg White

Shake with ice and strain into a water glass filled with ice. Top with soda, garnish with a lemon wedge, and add straw.

For my second drink at Eastern Standard, I asked Kit Paschal what he had been excited about making lately. Two of the drinks he mentioned used bartender Kevin Martin's strawberry-infused rosé vermouth which intrigued me greatly. I was reminded of the concept during Eric Seed's talk at the "Vermouth and Apertif Wine" seminar at Tales of the Cocktail this year. Eric mentioned an alpine strawberry-infused vermouth style that was rather popular in Europe but rarely makes its way over here. The Dolin company makes one called Chamberyzette so perhaps Eric's company Haus Alpenz will one day distribute it here stateside. I, therefore, chose to order one of these two drinks and to ignore Andrea's taunts that I was ordering a chick drink. Well I was, but it was in the name of academic research.

I got to sample the vermouth in a cordial glass and it was rather sweet and wormwoody. I had no clue how close it mimicked the French style or whether it even mattered much since the end result was tasty. The fizz itself was very sweet although the egg white did a good job of hiding a bit of the sugar in it. The sloe gin played well with the strawberry in the beginning of the sip followed by the gin and vermouth's botanicals at the end. Despite the taunts, the drink was rather good but the simple syrup could have been dropped entirely for my taste buds, especially since the rosé vermouth and sloe gin combination was already crafted for the sweet tooth in mind.